04032019-btd-01.qxd 3/3/2019 10:53 PM Page 1 c m y b Bathinda TRIBUNE UNEMPLOYED TEACHERS BURN GOVT’S EFFIGY Members of the BEd TET-Qualified Teachers’ Union took out a protest march and demanded jobs. FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY INBRIEF IHM PROF BOOKED FOR EVE-TEASING Bathinda: An assistant lecturer of the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) has been booked on the charge of eve-teasing. The complainant in the case is his female colleague. Police officials said a case under Sections 354 and 380 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at Bathinda Sadar police station on the complaint of administrative officer of the IHM. It is worth mentioning that the accused had raised a voice against the IHM management a few days ago for irregular appointments and financial transactions and had also lodged a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner in this regard. TNS FUEL PRICES PETROL ~70.65 DIESEL ~65.45 3 held under Gambling Act Tribune News Service Bathinda, March 3 The police arrested two persons on the charge of gambling. A sum of Rs 7,065 was recovered from them near the Multania bridge. A case has been registered under the Gambling Act against the two at the Canal Colony police station. Both were released later on bail. The accused have been identified as Kewal Krishan, a resident of Paras Ram Nagar, and Hamir Singh, a resident of Lal Singh Basti. In another case, the Canal Colony police arrested a person for indulging in gambling. The police recovered Rs 1,520 from the accused at Baba Deep Singh Nagar. Rajwinder Singh, who is investigating the case, said the accused were arrested at Baba Deep Singh Nagar as a police party conducted a raid. The accused has been identified as Amit Kumar of Mehna Chowk. A case under Sections 13-A, 3 and 67 of the Gambling Act has been registered against the accused and later he was released on bail. PAGE 2 PANKAJ TRIPATHI SAYS FAME IS AN ILLUSION PAGE 3 SEQUEL OF 1990’S SHOW SAANS IN THE MAKING Says he often hears he has become a star, but does not dwell on it. For him, it is the responsibility that matters. MAX 18°C | MIN 11°C | YESTERDAY MAX 19°C | MIN 12°C SUNSET MONDAY 6:31 PM PAGE 4 The popular show aired from 1998 to 1999, featuring Neena Gupta, Kanwaljit Singh and Kavita Kapoor. SUNRISE TUESDAY 6:53 AM MONDAY | 4 MARCH 2019 | BATHINDA Jassi holds rally at Maur, lists Cong’s works Sukhmeet Bhasin Tribune News Service Bathinda, March 3 Congress leader and former minister Harminder Singh Jassi held a massive rally at the old grain market in Maur Mandi on Sunday. While addressing party workers ahead of Lok Sabha elections, Jassi listed out the development works going on in the area. He said a grant of Rs 4.50 crore had been released for the development of Maur and once this grant got over, more money would be released. There would be no dearth of funds for the development works in the mandi, he stated. Addressing the issue of shortage of doctors at Maur civil hospital, Jassi said he had given a list of doctors to the Punjab health minis- ter and soon, all doctors would join the hospital. He the state government was pro farmers as for the first time, payment of farmers was made within 72 hours during the paddy procurement season last year. Moreover, the government had waived debts of farmers as promised. In the first phase, the government had waived debts of 3 lakh farmers and in the second phase, which is still underway, 7 lakh farmers had been benefitted. Jassi further claimed that the government would also provide 5-marla plots to poor people and a new loan waiver scheme for landless farmers and farm labourers had also been approved. The government, through i-haryali app, had distributed 8 lakh saplings free of cost. Further, he claimed that to provide employment to the youth, employments fairs were being held in colleges of the state regularly. Jagtar Singh Gill, Rajinder Kumar Toni, Birbal Dass, Rattan Lal and others were present at the rally. It is pertinent to mention that this was the first major event of the Congress party after the Assembly elections campaign during which a bomb blast took place outside Jassi’s public meeting in Maur in 2017. The Bomb Blast Action Committee also took out a protest march on Sunday, alleging police inaction in the case. The committee members, carrying black flags, took out the rally in main areas of Maur. Special task force to keep eye on liquor smuggling from Haryana Sukhmeet Bhasin Tribune News Service Bathinda, March 3 The state government has decided to constitute a special task force battalion to stop the illegal flow of liquor into the region from Haryana. The battalion will keep a check on Bathinda, Muktsar, Sangur, Patiala and Mansa districts, which are highly affected from the menace of liquor smuggling from the neighbouring state. This battalion will be dedicated to the Excise Department. As per police records, 1,015 cases were registered under the Excise Act from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018, and 1,037 accused were arrested in Bathinda district in this time period. The major reason behind the rise in this illegal business is that liquor in Haryana is cheaper by 30 to 40 per cent as compared to Punjab. Illegal smuggling of liquor has led to clashes in villages as in many cases, workers of contractors raid a place without informing the police or 1ST RALLY SINCE BLAST This was the first major event of the Congress party after the Assembly elections campaign during which a bomb blast took place outside Harminder Singh Jassi’s public meeting in Maur in 2017. WHAT HE SAID ■ Jassi said there will be no dearth Congress leader and former minister Harminder Singh Jassi, accompanied by other party leaders, during a rally at Maur in Bathinda on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO SCERT directs schools not to expel pupils till Class VIII Balwant Garg Tribune News Service A major reason behind the rise in illegal smuggling is that liquor in Haryana is cheaper by 30 to 40 per cent. FILE PHOTO Excise Department officials. Even though police have registered cases, liquor contractors allege that bootleggers successfully smuggle liquor into the region without getting noticed. So much so that people even on scooters and motorbikes smuggle liquor to mint money. A case of liquor, which is available for Rs 1,500 in Punjab, can be bought for Rs 800-900 in Haryana. As mostly country-made Haryana brand liquor is smuggled into the region, the smugglers have their network in villages where they sell this liquor. In many villages, they have fixed customers and mobile phones have made things easy for them. Many times, the bootleggers leave the consignment in fields and customers pick it up as per their convenience. Even as the police and the Excise and Taxation Department claim large recoveries, the rise in smuggling has put a question mark on their functioning as a major part of smuggled liquor is going undetected. of funds to carry out development works in Maur Mandi ■ Addressing the issue of shortage of doctors at Maur civil hospital, he said he had given a list of doctors to the Punjab health minister and soon, all doctors would join the hospital ■ The state government was pro farmers as for the first time, payment of farmers was made within 72 hours during the paddy procurement season last year, he said Faridkot, March 3 State Council for Education, Research and Training (SCERT), Punjab, on Saturday directed all schools in the state not to expel a child from the school till he/ she completes elementary education (up to Class VIII). The school may hold back a student in Class V and VIII if he/ she fails in the annual examinations but the child shall be given additional instructions and granted opportunity for re-examination within a period of two months from the date of declaration of the result, the director of SCERT has told all district education officers and school heads in the state. The SCERT’s directions came after the Ministry of Law and Justice issued a notification, making amendments to an Act. Before this amendment, there was no provision of conducting annual examinations of Class V and Class HOPEFUL OF IMPROVING RESULTS ■ Before the amendment to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, there was no provision of conducting annual examinations of Class V and Class VIII students in the schools ■ There were arguments that promoting all children automatically to the next class reduces the ability of children to learn and capability of teachers to teach ■ Most of these automatically promoted students easily passed the annual examinations of Class IX as these were held at the school level. But in Class X exams, that are conducted by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), these students, particularly boys, performed “poorly” ■ Blaming the poor performance of students on no detention clause for students failing in Class V and Class VIII, the authorities said a large number of children in Class III were unable to read a Class I-level text due to the “declining learning levels” in elementary education VIII students in the schools under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act. There were arguments that promoting all children automatically to the next class reduces the ability of children to learn and capability of teachers to teach. Most of these automatically promoted students easily passed the annual examinations of Class IX as these were held at the school level. But in Class X exams, that are conducted by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), these students, particularly boys, performed “poorly”. After the PSEB registered a poor pass percentage in Class X in the past two years, 59.47 per cent in 2018 and 57.50 per cent in 2017, officials were hopeful that the new amendments to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act would improve education standards in government schools, particularly at the elementary level. After amending this provision to the Act, a regular examination would be conducted for Class V and Class VIII in all government schools this time, said the director. Sources in district Education Department said in March 2018, the total pass percentage of Class X in the state was 59.47 —62.09 per cent for regular students and 31.75 per cent for open school students. The pass percentage of girls was 70.43 and that of boys was 55.48. Blaming the poor performance of students on no detention clause for students failing in Class V and Class VIII, the authorities said a large number of children in Class III were unable to read a Class I-level text due to the “declining learning levels” in elementary education. They said the students were unable to do basic arithmetic as there was no assessment of their learning outcomes to determine their promotion to the next class. Probe sought into high number of cattle deaths Under-construction illegal shops demolished Sukhmeet Bhasin Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Bathinda, March 3 A team of the district administration on Sunday demolished illegal shops coming up in old tehsil building area in Bathinda. ADC (general) Sukhpreet Singh Sidhu and tehsildar Sukhbir Singh were on the spot when these shops were demolished. The incident has raised a question mark as to how these illegal buildings can come up on government land in the vicinity of the district administrative complex, where all officials, including deputy commissioner, SSP and other officials, have their offices. ADC (G) Sukhpreet Singh said “Shops were being constructed on government land and as this issue came to our notice, we immediately took action and got it demolished”. It is pertinent to mention that the construction of ille- A JCB machine demolishes illegal structures in the old tehsil area in Bathinda on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO gal buildings and encroachments under the alleged patronage of big-wigs is going on blatantly in the city. The Municipal Corporation Bathinda has not initiated much action in this regard. Many illegal buildings have come up in the city on the Mall Road, GT Road, Ajit Road and in Pukhraj Colony and Basant Vihar, for which builders do not even approach the departments concerned for sanctions. Civic body officials have failed to keep a track of the unauthorised constructions as well as the visible deviations from the approved plans. Once the building is constructed, officials slap a penalty and grant approval to the structure. Bathinda, March 3 Harraipur cattle pound, spread over 14.5 acres, received around Rs 88 lakh in grants in seven installments. Despite this, around 1,000 cattle have died here in the past few years. Social activist Sanjeev Goyal has sought a probe into the death of cattle heads. Goyal stated that earlier he had lodged a complaint in this regard to the chief minister and later, on February 7, 2019, he sent his complaint to the secretaries of Local Bodies Department and Animal Husbandry Department, but no action had been taken till date. The Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB), in a reply to his RTI regarding cow cess funds given to Harraipur cattle pound, had claimed that the first cheque of Rs 40 lakh was given on August 3, 2015, and the second cheque of Rs 25 lakh was given on December 31, 2015. Later, a third cheque of Rs 20 lakh was giv- c m y b An over packed cattle shed at Harraipur cattle pound in Bathinda. TRIBUNE PHOTO en on May 18, 2016, followed by cheques of Rs 8.80 lakh and Rs 12.03 lakh on March 14, 2017, and August 4, 2017. Further, a cheque of Rs 10 lakh was given on Janaury 3, 2018, Rs 5 lakh on June 14, 2018, Rs 7 lakh on October 5, 2018, Rs 15 lakh on December 14, 2018, and Rs 24 lakh on Janaury 25, 2019, had been given to Harraipur cattle pound. He said huge grants had been released to the cattle pound, so lack of funds was not the reason behind the large number of cattle deaths. A thorough probe was must to ascertain the reason behind these deaths. The administration should take the matter seriously and a probe should be conducted so that departmental action is taken against whosoever was responsible, Goyal added. It is pertinent to mention that the Bathinda Tribune team had visited the Harraipur cattle pound earlier and found many cattle heads dead. Taking a serious note of the news item, published in these columns then, Mayor Balwant Rai Nath, along with his team, had visited the Harraipur pound to check the facilities being provided to the cattle. While checking the register, he found that the doctor conducted post-mortem examination of only seven stray cattle. He also found that cleanliness was not up to the mark at the pound. A number of sick cattle were kept with other cattle. There was no proper urine disposal at the pound and an open pit was made in which urine of animals was collected. The drain taking urine to the pit was blocked by cow dung. The pound was also facing a shortage of labourers as MNREGA workers sent for work there had refused to clean cow dung and only did plantation work. It is noteworthy that Bathinda is the first district in the state to impose cow cess and had collected a huge amount through this.

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